An Australian toddler seriously injured in a car accident got a second chance at life following a “miracle” surgical procedure.
The 16-month-old Jaxon Taylor was riding in the car along with his mother and older sister last month when they were engaged in a head-on collision that pulled the boy’s head and neck apart, an internal decapitation, 7 News Melbourne reported.
“The second I pulled him out, I knew that his neck was broken,” Jackson's mother, Rylea Taylor, told the station. Her daughter received abdominal injuries in the accident.
The boy was airlifted to a hospital in Brisbane and ended up under the care of Dr. Geoff Askin.
"A lot of children wouldn't survive that injury in the first place," Askin said. "And if they did and they were resuscitated they may never move or breathe again."
Jaxon underwent six hours of surgery, which consisted of attaching a halo to his skull, then holding him completely still as his vertebrae were reattached using a tiny piece of wire and finally grafting together the vertebrae with a piece of his rib, according to 7 News Melbourne.
"It is a miracle," Rylea Taylor said of the surgery.
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A video shared by the station on Sept. 29 shows Jaxon laughing and hugging his parents. Doctors said he will have to wear the halo device for a few weeks.
